


Christmas Tree fire of ’97

by pixiealtaira



Category: Glee
Genre: Family, Gen, Kid Fic, mention of fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25857661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixiealtaira/pseuds/pixiealtaira
Kudos: 12





	Christmas Tree fire of ’97

Burt had one chore that had to be done at the house during December. Just one…the rest were ‘options’. His job…water the Christmas tree before he left for work, at lunch, when he got home and before bed.

Elizabeth wouldn’t do it because Elizabeth had wanted a new fake tree. She wanted a good one, with soft bushy needles and branches and built in lights that looked like a real Douglas fir.

Burt thought Kurt was old enough and decided they would go cut their very own real one.

Burt won by bundling them all into the truck the Saturday after Thanksgiving and driving them a ridiculous amount of time to a place where they could go cut their own tree. It had been a dry year, it was still a dry year…although it was cold.

It also wasn’t nearly as fun as Burt had imagined. Kurt liked little trees that weren’t too tall but were nice and fat. Elizabeth liked tall trees that would just barely fit in their living room and didn’t like to be reminded that they DID NOT have high ceilings and so tall trees weren’t really an option. Finally Burt found the tree he liked best and declared that is what they were getting.

They chopped it. Kurt took a few whacks before he got bored with the whole wielding an axe…unless he could wield it at someone like a barbarian. Elizabeth took two whacks and then insisted that the tree was too poky and hated her. Burt chopped it down while Kurt danced around singing some Lizzie Borden chant he said he learned from the day care he went to for two hours a week while his mom taught piano. It was a bit disturbing.

But Burt got his tree. It was a good tree and Kurt insisted that he did indeed have fun, even though his dad should have found him some barbarians and they should have got a short fat tree.

They decorated it Sunday. Burt and Kurt did most of it because Elizabeth insisted the tree hated her and scratched her too badly and gave her a rash and it was too poky anyway. She wanted a soft fake tree.

They couldn’t find the Christmas lights from the year before, so they put up an old set Burt had had in college. Elizabeth didn’t approve of those either…she said they looked dubious.

They also couldn’t find the Christmas box with their ornaments. Kurt made his mom help him and his dad make ornaments out of paper and cardboard and Burt picked up two sets of inexpensive balls and some tinsel garlands. The tree was fully decorated by Tuesday, but it had already started to shed.

Kurt originally had the job to water the tree. Kurt created huge puddles and not much water got into the tree stand. Elizabeth refused because she came away with too many scratches when she watered the tree. So it was left to Burt.

He did good. From the last week of November until the 15th of December he never missed a day and usually managed all four times. And it took all four waterings for the tree to not shed like crazy. But the 15th brought with it a rash of needed car repairs and overtime at the garage. On the 18th of December, Kurt told his mom he thought he heard a pop when they plugged in the lights. She looked and didn’t see any lights out and shrugged it off. Kurt told his dad when he got home for lunch, but Burt shrugged it off as well.

Burt got home after midnight on the 18th…technically into the 19th. He was out the next morning by 5:30 am because it had been a very icy night…no snow, not much moisture at all, just enough to icy the roads in a black ice that left drivers reckless. He towed non-stop for four hours. Then he worked through lunch so they could get the days appointments done. When he got home...late…Kurt had insisted he smelled smoke when they plugged the tree in that morning. Elizabeth said Kurt was smelling the burnt grilled cheese sandwiches and she couldn’t smell any smoke by the tree when she got there.

Burt left after dinner to head back out to the shop to finish up two emergency repairs. He was again home after midnight.

He left again before 6am. However, he didn’t have to stay for lunch, even though he had to take it late. Lunch ended up at two, and so he figured he’d head home and spend some time with Kurt after he’d had to spend the mid-morning at the babysitters. Elizabeth always had a hard time with him when she picked him up from the baby sitters…he ran wild for hours.

He arrived as firetrucks did.

Kurt was sitting on the curb across the street with his arms crossed and a very sour look on his face.

“I told you all that I smelled smoke.” He said.

Burt rushed to the house where Lizzie was still screaming. She didn’t seem to be hurt, however she was blocking the fire fighters from going in the back part of the living room that housed the piano at all…with threats to their lives if they dared.

The chief was arguing with her that they had to check. He won, but only after he promised it would just be him and he would not take a hose.

Burt let them fight it out as he assessed the damage.

The carpet was charred, and the bottoms of the curtains were singed but had not caught fire. It had not reached the sofa or chairs. The tree and everything on it was a loss. There didn’t seem to be anything under it.

“There isn’t even too much smoke damage.” One of the firefighters told Burt as he came over to him. “You all are very lucky.”

“Who called it in?” Burt asked.

“A neighbor, the kid went over and told the neighbor that he thought there was a fire somewhere but he couldn’t see it. Your wife was giving a lesson still and in the other room. The tree was bone dry. It is way too dry to have live trees this year. This is the sixth tree fire today.”

Burt nodded at the fireman; meanwhile he was trying to remember when he last watered the darned tree.

Kurt marched into the house while Burt was thinking about it.

“Did my gifts get wet?” Kurt demanded.

“I didn’t see any, if they were under the tree they are gone, though.” The fireman said.

Kurt snorted. “I removed them this morning because I swear I smelled smoke YESTERDAY! I also tied back the curtains so they weren’t too near it and removed the tree skirt. I thought I smelled smoke when we plugged it in this morning too, but I SAW smoke when Mr. Burton dropped me off from the sitters and I came in here to read quietly because Ralphy has a piece at his church and he needed another hour with mom.”

“Where did you put them?” Burt asked.

“In my bedroom, of course. Don’t worry, I didn’t peek.” Kurt said.

“You all are very lucky.” The fireman said.

Burt nodded. “We are.”

Kurt looked at Burt. “Is it alright if I say ‘I told you so’ to Mommy?”

The fireman lost it and Burt struggled not to laugh as well. “Go ahead kid.”

The rest of the 20th was spent calling and figuring out what needed to be done and fixed. Some was covered by insurance, there was no structural damage, professional cleaners were in on the 21st and people to fix the carpet on the 22nd. 

And Elizabeth got her perfect fake tree on the 23rd. Kurt picked out all the ornaments for it, even though in the process of dealing with stuff on the 20th Burt found the Christmas boxes (outside in the garage, next to boxes labeled Easter and July 4th…he hoped he remembered that). Although Elizabeth encouraged Kurt to go crazy, he stuck to plastic balls not too dissimilar to the ones Burt had got for the real tree…just Kurt’s choice was red and white and peppermint themed. (They are very neutral, Daddy, they will mix well with what is already owned.) Burt allowed Kurt to choose three ornaments for his special ornament choices.

Kurt chose a campfire as one. He said it was because it was as close as he could get to the Christmas tree on fire and the fireman ornaments would make it look like his dad was a fireman, not a car doctor.

He also found a fur trimmed trapper boot, which Kurt explained was because he couldn’t find an axe so he had to get something for a barbarian instead. Luckily the third ornament was a bit more normal…he chose a snowman and made his dad and mom get one too.

Burt never did figure out where his son learned the word barbarian, let alone the association to fur trimming on their clothing and axes.


End file.
